The Persians are coming to the Age of Empires Online next week, Microsoft confirmed today.

The Persians, which players of the mostly-free-to-play online will have to purchase separately, includes unique immortal units, mounted Persian Archers and special attack elephants. The new civ also includes its own special gear and advisor cards. The Persians arrive on Oct. 18.

Other updates hitting this month for the game include five new Legendary quests, dozens of new Legendary rare items, a new Legendary Armaments store in Cyprus. And a free crafting app for Windows Phone. The app lets you view recipes and stats for all craft itmes, look up info on how to get materials and crafting recipes, use a materials calculator and sift through a community board.